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tshoberg@westfargopioneer.com

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To say it was a rocky weekend for the West Fargo boys hockey team may be an understatement. "It wasn't a very good way to end a hockey season," co-coach Tim Capouch said. The Packers were ranked second-to-last in the conference standings entering last weekend's East Region Tournament, so it was no big surprise when they fell to No.

By Tyler Shoberg Six individual champions, a third-straight East Region Championship title, and coach of the year: yes, the Packers wrestling team is having a season to be remembered. Last weekend, West Fargo traveled to Devils Lake for the Eastern Dakota Conference meet, with hopes of replicating its success from the past two years. By Saturday, the Packers did just that - and then some. With a record-setting score of 289.5 points, West Fargo easily defended its EDC title and will vault into the North Dakota Class A State Tournament as the East Region's top seed. This year's state t

Legos, those iconic interlocking building bricks designed for youth, have spurred both fun and imagination for decades. Although nothing more than toys to most people, Legos have also popped up in possibly the most uncanny of places: schools. Students from West Fargo's Cheney Middle School and STEM Center recently used Legos as their media during the state FIRST Lego League (FLL) Robotics Championship at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

Three West Fargo School Board seats are up for grabs. Four-year terms are winding down for board members Patti Stedman, Kay Kiefer, and Ben Koppelman. Of the trio, so far only board president Koppelman has announced that he will not be running for re-election. During a regularly scheduled meeting of the board Monday at L.E. Berger Elementary School, Kiefer and board vice president Stedman said they "think so," when asked if they would be running for re-election in June.

A slab of sapphire ice a foot-and-a-half thick and the size of a dinner table jutted forth from Red Lake like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Around it, haphazardly stacked solidified lake hunks of roughly the same size laid scattered in rows. They were the results of pressure ridges - gnarly evidence of powerful, invisible underwater forces - which crisscrossed the landscape in a network of broken zippers that stretched to the horizon.

In a tight spot, home-court advantage can be the difference between a postseason berth or an untimely departure. As far as the No. 1 West Fargo girls basketball team is concerned, the latter point would have to come from quite the upset.

After rebounding from a four-game skid early in the season, the West Fargo girls hockey team went on the type of roll it had become accustomed to in previous seasons. From Dec. 20 to Jan. 28, the Packers did not lose a game. A 4-2 victory at Bismarck secured their 10-game winning streak, and ended the first month of 2012 on a high note. February was not as favorable, however, as West Fargo dropped its first two games of the month. As a testament to their ability to rebound from adversity, West Fargo (12-5-0, 14-6-0) righted its ship last week with a clean sweep.

Bismarck State College will be adding another solid West Fargo athlete to its soccer team. Brandon Beyer recently signed a letter of intent to play men's soccer at BSC, coach Mel Fischer said. He will be the third Packer on the Mystics' ranks come fall. Beyer was a defenseman last fall with the Packers. The senior captain racked up four goals and two assists on the season, and helped West Fargo (10-2-0 EDC, 12-8-0 overall) to a regular-season runner-up finish in the Eastern Dakota Conference standings.

With only one game left before the East Region tournament, the West Fargo boys hockey team does not have much hope to turn their ship around from a comparatively disappointing season. Of course, anything can happen in the postseason. The Packers dropped two straight games last week to slip to 8-12 overall and 4-9 against Eastern Dakota Conference opponents. They now are seventh in the standings, ahead of only Devils Lake, which is winless in the EDC. Last year at this time, West Fargo was preparing to enter the postseason as the No. 2 team from the East Region.

With the departure of January, writing 2012 at the end of dates finally seems to stick. And considering our world is apparently supposed to end before 2013 (if you believe that whole Mayan calendar thing), it's too bad time is moving so quickly. With a month down already, and even though February has an extra day tacked on this year, it's doubtful the next 11 months will be any slower than the first.